Method and system to measure and monitor the grey water content in a rotating concrete mixer drum mixer truck using a sensor attached to the interior of the concrete mixer drum. By measuring the grey water content before a batching process takes place, the batched water (and cement content and admixture type and content) can be modified in order to maintain expected performance of the batched load in terms of both strength and rheology, or more simply, some or all of the grey water can be discharged from the concrete mixer drum before batching.

A production device for manufacturing a product in the form of a sheet or a block, including: an initial agitator (1), a primary conveyor belt (2) and a mixing agitator (3); each of initial agitators (1) is configured with the primary conveyor belt (2), one or more stones or a stone-like granular material having a selected particle size and a binder are initially mixed in the initial agitator (1) and then an initial mixture is obtained; the mixing agitator (3) includes a rotating container for undertaking a material; the initial mixture is conveyed to the mixing agitator (3) through the primary conveyor belt (2); more than one initial agitator and matched primary conveyor belts thereof are disposed around the mixing agitator (3) at intervals.

Systems described herein relate to a mobile material transport system for 3D printing construction. Embodiments of the mobile material transport system include a portable container configured to store a granular material, such as a dry mix mortar. The system also includes a feed system coupled to the portable container that may continuously expel the granular material through a material output valve at a steady feed rate that may be controlled to adjust the feed rate up or down. Additionally, the system may include a power supply that powers the feed system, as well as any additional construction equipment, such as a material mixer or 3D printer.

The disclosure provides a method of monitoring a flow rate of a liquid additive comprising measuring the flow rate of the liquid additive with a flow meter; transmitting the measurements of the flow rate to a controller; transmitting, from a variable frequency drive (VFD), measurements of a rotational speed of a motor to the controller, wherein the VFD is coupled to the motor; transmitting measurements from a level sensor to the controller; determining whether the flow rate of the liquid additive is a non-zero rate; utilizing the measurements transmitted to the controller as feedback to compare against a designated set point; calculating an error between the feedback and the designated set point to calculate an updated output; and transmitting the updated output to the VFD to change the flow rate of the liquid additive.

Disclosed is a method and system for blending a foam modifier with foaming agent on-line, e.g., as may be particularly useful for gypsum or cement slurries. The foam modifier comprises a fatty alcohol that is added to a gypsum or cement slurry that includes foaming agent, such as an alkyl sulfate surfactant. The fatty alcohol can be a C.sub.6-C.sub.16 fatty alcohol in some embodiments. The use of such a foam modifier can be used, for example, to stabilize the foam, reduce waste of foaming agent, improve void size control in the final product, and improve the gypsum board manufacturing process.

Aspects involve estimating transitions in properties of a concrete mixture prior to batching and during transport of the mixture from a first location, such as a concrete batch plant, to a second location, such as a job site and controlling a mixture of ingredients for concrete in response. A tool may execute a method for estimating an initial temperature at batching and a change in temperature of the concrete mixture during transport due to the exothermic reaction of the mixture, percentages and types of ingredients of the mixture, and/or environmental factors along a transit route. A control system at the concrete batching plant may control one or more components of the concrete batch plant in response to the estimated temperature change, such as a dispenser of an ingredient of the mixture and/or a heating or cooling mechanism to adjust the temperature of an ingredient of the concrete mixture.

Method and system to measure and monitor the grey water content in a rotating concrete mixer drum mixer truck using a sensor attached to the interior of the concrete mixer drum. By measuring the grey water content before a batching process takes place, the batched water (and cement content and admixture type and content) can be modified in order to maintain expected performance of the batched load in terms of both strength and rheology, or more simply, some or all of the grey water can be discharged from the concrete mixer drum before batching.

Cellular concrete is formed from a cement-based wet mix slurry with a foam entrained into the wet mix. The foam is created using a foaming agent, mixed with water and air using a foam generator. The wet mix is mixed with the foam to form the cellular concrete wet mix. Poor component metering and blending practices in the current state of the art limits the performance capabilities of existing cellular concrete placements. The presently disclosed technology addresses this with a cellular concrete mixing system comprising a dry mix hopper to store a quantity of dry mix, a mixing tank to blend the dry mix and water together to form a wet mix, a holding tank to store a quantity of the wet mix, a foam generator to generate foam from air, water, and foam concentrate, and a blend controller to control operation of the overall mixing system.

A method of operating a concrete batching plant includes loading aggregates into an aggregate storage bin divided into compartments from the ground level by wheel loader, discharging the material from storage bin through batching gates fitted into a weighing hopper, hydraulically lifting the aggregates after being weighed in the weighing hopper, conveying cement through a screw conveyor into a cement weigher and discharging the same into a mixer, mixing and compacting the aggregates for a pre-determined time, discharging the mixed and compacted concrete into a concrete carrying hopper, transporting the concrete carrying hopper to a desired height, and loading the concrete into mobile transit mixer or concrete pump, based on the site requirement.

Described are a method and system for initiating a majority percentage of chemical admixture dosage into a delivered concrete load preferably just before arrival of the concrete delivery truck at the delivery pour site, such that a maximized slump (or slump flow, or other slump characteristic) increase occurs just before discharge/pour. The invention employs a concrete slump management system having a processor that is programed to consider time of pour (discharge) and stored data that includes dosage response (change of slump characteristic) of the concrete mix due to past additions in the same type of concrete mix, and thus maximizes pre-pour increase in slump characteristic while minimizing or avoiding the risk of overshooting the slump target as well as limiting the time required for adjusting concrete to attain the target slump value at the jobsite.